Hotline #705 -- May 6, 2011

Updated: May 23rd.

NARP hosted its semiannual Council of Representatives meeting in Washington, D.C. this week, with Council Members from across the nation taking the case for passenger trains to the nation’s leaders.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood spoke at NARP’s Capitol Hill reception on May 3, where he praised the Association’s grassroots advocacy.

“High-speed rail is coming to America—there’s no going back, we’re on our way,” said LaHood.  “But you all laid the groundwork for it. We would not be in the business we’re in if it weren’t for the advocacy of so many of you, over a long period of time, who believed in passenger rail, and believe that passenger rail should really be a part of America’s intermodal transportation system.”

LaHood was joined by Federal Railroad Administrator Joeseph Szabo and Deputy Administrator Karen Rae. 

Also in attendance was Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), the recipient of one of NARP’s 2011 Golden Spike awards for her longstanding support of passenger trains nationally and in upstate New York and her work this year in founding the Bi-cameral Caucus for High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail.

“Through her leadership over many years, and this year in founding the Bi-cameral High Speed and Intercity Rail Caucus, Congresswoman Slaughter has shown the steadfast political courage it will take to create a modern passenger rail system, bringing the many benefits of trains to Americans across the nation” said NARP President Ross Capon.

Earlier in the day, NARP leaders presented Golden Spike Awards to Maine Senators Olympia Snowe (R) and Susan Collins (R) for their long-standing support of passenger trains.  They played a leading role in the development of the highly successful Boston-Portland Downeaster and in the efforts to keep it alive and extend it further east.

“Both Snowe and Collins have exerted every effort to establish, improve and extend Downeaster, which serves as a vital transportation link and economic development generator for the many communities it connects,” said NARP Chairman Bob Stewart.

Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-PA) spoke at the reception.  Two of his constituents received awards.  Amtrak’s Blair Slaughter won the Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award, and Dr. Vukan Vuchic won the first NARP Academic Award (see below). 

Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) also attended the reception.

Other highlights from the week:

• NARP awarded it’s first ever Academic Award to Professor Vukan Vuchic for a lifetime “dedicated to increasing knowledge about the operations, planning and policies toward passenger trains and other advancements in the field of transportation.”
• NARP and the Burch family presented Amtrak’s Blair Slaughter with the 2011 Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award for his work in enhancing the mobility of passengers with disabilities.
• NARP Chairman Bob Stewart presented a plaque of appreciation to Amtrak’s President Joseph Boardman for the railroad’s 40 years of service to American travelers.

NARP Council members, along with a few general NARP members, held about 150 meetings with Members of Congress from their respective states and their legislative assistants on Tuesday, urging them to support the President’s requested $8 billion for high-speed and intercity passenger trains in fiscal 2012, along with a robust rail title in the surface transportation reauthorization bill.


The 4th annual National Train Day is tomorrow.  Amtrak will be hosting events in New York City, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Chicago.  These featured events will have entertainment, activities for families, and equipment display—both historic, present day, and cutting-edge train cars and locomotives.  Make sure to look for the NARP tables at these events.

There will also be scores of locally organized events that you can find the details for on Amtrak’s website and on NARP’s.

Here’s a list of national highlights:

• Amtrak will have the inaugural showing of the 40th Anniversary Exhibit Train in Washington, D.C. from 11am to 4pm. The train will highlight Amtrak’s 40 years of serving the passenger by showcasing vintage advertising, employee uniforms, model trains and other memorabilia, and feature a NARP-sponsored look at the future of train service in America. If you will be in DC, make sure to stop by and see the new NARP kiosk, located next to Gate G.
• In Philadelphia, Amtrak will honor the Black Great Migration at 30th Street Station. “Amtrak is honored to host the Great Migration exhibit during the National Train Day events in Philadelphia,” said Emmett Fremaux, Amtrak’s vice president of marketing and product development. “Through historic documents and compelling images, the exhibit recounts the significance of rail travel during a crucial time in the history of African Americans.” A coalition of historical groups—the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the New York Public Library, the African American Museum of Philadelphia, and the Library of Congress—have collected historical artifacts from the 1930s migration of African-Americans from the South to the Northeast, Midwest, and West on passenger and freight trains.  The event will also feature Dr. Allen Ballard, a University of Albany professor of History/African American Studies, who will discuss the vital role the Great Migration had in America’s railroad history.
• In Chicago, Amtrak will provide a display about the Mexican guest workers who kept the railroads running during World War II.  These “Railroad Braceros” who maintained tracks and performed other skilled and unskilled labor for U.S. railroads while American men fought overseas.
• Los Angeles will feature an East Meets West exhibit, talking about the role Chinese immigrants played in building the transcontinental railroad.
There will also be representatives from California’s missions who will talk about the connection between the state’s 21 missions, El Camino Real (the Royal Highway), and the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroads.
• Singer Gladys Knight performed in New York City with members of the Boys & Girls Club of America, a designated partner for Amtrak’s National Train Day to help enrich the lives of Club members. Ms. Knight performed at the National Train Day “Rock’n the Rail Way” benefit concert at the renowned Beacon Theatre in New York yesterday. “We are delighted that Amtrak has partnered with Boys & Girls Clubs of America to bring unique experiences to many youth we serve,” said Frank Sanchez of the Boys & Girls Club. “Our Club members are thrilled to perform with Ms. Knight in New York and are equally eager to travel on Amtrak this summer.”
• Rhode Island Governor Lincoln D. Chafee (I) joined top state transportation officials today at the construction site of Wickford Junction Train Station in North Kingstown to celebrate National Train Day. The Governor was joined by top officials from the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT), the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC), and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) and talked about the growing importance of commuter rail in Rhode Island.  He gave a status update on the Wickford Junction Train Station project.

In a setback for smart transportation development in North Carolina, the state’s House of Representatives passed a piece of legislation that would put up bureaucratic hurtles to thwart the state’s receipt of federal funds.

The law is aimed squarely at a $461 million high-speed and intercity passenger rail grant approved by the Federal Railroad Administration that would increase capacity and improve service between Charlotte and Raleigh.  Rep. Ric Killian (R-Mecklenburg)—co-chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation—sponsored the bill that the House passed, and has also gotten similar language added to the state budget bill.  Killian’s law will require legislative authorization for the acceptance of rail grants of $5 million or more when a state match (or future maintenance cost) is required.

Governor Bev Perdue (D) is likely to veto Killian’s bill, and has also threatened to veto the budget bill over non-rail-related objections.

The Charlotte Observer responded with a scathing editorial of the law (H422), writing:

“[Rep. Ric Killian]’s objection to passenger rail displays a disdain for travelers who want more alternatives to $4-per-gallon automobile travel across the Piedmont Crescent. This is a narrow approach to transportation…[This legislation] will slow travel for citizens in the future who wish not to further foul the air and crowd N.C. highways driving back and forth across this state. It’s a bad idea.”

The Federal Railroad Administration signed a contract with Washington State’s Department of Transportation that will release $145 million in high-speed rail funds to begin work to expand and improve Amtrak’s Cascades service.

The money, awarded to Washington in late 2010, was redirected from funds turned down by the governors of Ohio and Wisconsin last year.

“This grant funding will allow us to expand our vision for the future of the Amtrak Cascades service,” Washington Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said. “Ridership is steadily increasing, and we know this trend will continue as we add more schedule options and increase travel speed.”

The FRA has already obligated $590 million in American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 to WSDOT, bringing the state’s total to $735 million.  The money is going to increase frequencies and speed on the Portland-Seattle-Vancouver, B.C. corridor.


The Associated Press is reporting that a data cache captured during the killing of Osama bin Laden contained indications that members of Al Qaeda were considering targeting America’s railroad network on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.  Intelligence officials responded by calling the plans aspirational, confirming that passengers are not faced with any specific threat.

The AP obtained a document that showed plans to tamper with track to derail a train and send it off a bridge or other elevated portion of track.  It was unclear whether the train was to be a passenger or freight train. Transportation security officials were quick to point out that no concrete plan was in place, however.

“We want to stress that this alleged al Qaeda plotting is based on initial reporting, which is often misleading or inaccurate and subject to change,” Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler said.  “While it is clear there was some level of planning, we have no recent information to indicate an active ongoing plot to target transportation and no information on possible locations or specific targets.”

Nevertheless, federal security officials are asking that passengers remain vigilant for suspicious activity, building on the existing “See Something, Say Something” safety campaign.


The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced April 29 that New Jersey will be required to repay the federal government the $271 million that the state was granted for the initial engineering and construction for the trans-Hudson River rail tunnels that Governor Chris Christie (R) killed upon taking office.

Reporters gained access to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s letter—along with a 52-page report from FTA’s Budget and Policy office—sent to New Jersey’s congressional delegation.

Governor Christie killed the $8.7 billion rail tunnels last fall, citing the potential for cost overruns.  The tunnels would have brought New Jersey Transit trains into Manhattan via a new deep-cavern terminal under 34th Street, doubling the agency’s transit capacity between New York City and New Jersey.  The Christie Administration has spent more than $800,000 in legal fees fighting the repayment.

NARP fought the tunnels after a link to Penn Station in New York was eliminated late in the design process.  By removing the link, New Jersey Transit eliminated access for Amtrak’s intercity trains; failed to provide redundancy for the existing, 100-year old Hudson River rail tunnels; and made an extension to Manhattan’s East Side unlikely.  NARP fought for the restoration of the link—an argument that gained recognition from Governor Christie, who said the ARC project without the intercity rail link lacked true regional significance. 

LaHood called the Governor’s decision “unfortunate”, but said the costs were known and that the contract was broken willfully.

“The taxpayers acting through FTA, committed more than $1 billion to NJ Transit, in exchange for which NJ Transit was committed to build a defined transit improvement for the benefit of the American people,” LaHood wrote.  “The purpose of my efforts was to avoid the very circumstance in which we now find ourselves: No jobs, no congestion relief and an enduring debt whereby New Jersey must return $271 million to the nation’s taxpayers.”

The FTA said interest began accruing April 29.

Amtrak has announced its own plans to construct an intercity passenger rail tunnel under the Hudson Rivers, the Gateway project. It is unclear, at this stage, exactly where funding will come from and what part New Jersey Transit will play in the construction and use of the tunnels.


A poll conducted by Floridians for Responsible Policy showed that three out of four Orlando voters want to see the SunRail commuter train plan become a reality.

The poll, released this week, shows 76% of Orlando voters favor the commuter train that serves the greater Orlando area, while 17% are against it and 7% are undecided about the project.

The $1.2 billion SunRail project was suspended by Governor Rick Scott (R).  Governor Scott already killed the Tampa-Orlando high-speed rail line earlier this year, and advocates of good transportation investment are worried that he will repeat his previous mistake.


Travelers’ Advisory:

• Amtrak’s Empire Builder has received the OK to return to its normal route through North Dakota, serving Grand Forks, Devils Lake, and Rugby. The train had been using a route bypassing the three towns due to a washout.  However, the threat of a long-term or permanent reroute still looms as water at the bridge near Churchs Ferry remains high and could go higher.